If asked months ago what their expectations for how last week would be remembered in its company’s history, Netflix execs might have guessed they would be basking in the success of its first breakout success in original films courtesy of “War Machine,” which was just released on the streaming service.
But instead the $60 million war satire featuring Brad Pitt
as star and producer has squeaked by with a modicum of short-lived
buzz. And in “War Machine’s” absence, the talk about Netflix stayed
focused on its bustling TV side, though not in the form of the usual
wonderment about the endless string of hits like its most recent, “13
Reasons Why.” To the contrary, this was the week when Netflix displayed a
rare sense of fallibility, axing two expensive original series after years of appearing to rubber-stamp renewals. Icarus had finally drooped into the stratosphere.

For those inclined to chalk that up as a meaningless coincidence, Netflix CEO Reed Hastings
didn’t exactly dispel that notion the very same week by putting a
unique spin on the cancellations, contending that his company should
actually be yanking shows more often, freeing itself up to take yet more shots at scoring hits with more new series.
During a week when Netflix found itself taking a step back in the TV
world at the same time it should have been showing some progress in the
film world, maybe Hastings’ odd rationalization felt right at home. To
top that off, neither situation changed Wall Street’s perception of
Netflix, which saw its stock reach record highs amid
a broader surge for the tech sector’s famed FANG quartet that also
includes Facebook, Amazon and Google. Over a remarkable run that has
prompted some analysts to deem investor exuberance for Netflix as
irrational, rewarding fallibility seems entirely logical.
But lost in all this is the underwhelming arrival of “War Machine,”
which represented an upgrade in the kind of budget and star power that
could have conceivably delivered Netflix’s first film hit. Instead, the
film scored a lukewarm 54% on “Rotten Tomatoes.” Coming off a Cannes
Film Festival where another pair of Netflix original films was
well-received amid a controversy
that seemed to serve no purpose other than marketing the company’s
cinematic ambitions, “War Machine” felt like a letdown. What could have
been as impactful as “House of Cards” was for its TV unit ended up a
missed opportunity.
That’s strange because the movie’s subject is tailor-made to resonate
in these politically charged times. A fictionalization of the
non-fiction book “The Operators: The Wild and Terrifying Inside Story of
America’s War in Afghanistan,” it’s a tale of geopolitical brinkmanship
that evokes the misadventures of a certain real-life president. “War
Machine” is rendered by Pitt’s powerhouse Plan B shingle with the same
style and social conscience that proved so winning in other titles that
came from this production company including “The Big Short” and “Zero
Dark Thirty.”
And yet “War Machine” hasn’t made the kind of waves Plan B is so good
at generating, at least not yet anyway. Perhaps Netflix generates more
of a slow-burn effect than the more immediate propulsion the traditional
theatrical route provides. Or maybe the just movie just doesn’t work,
perhaps because the traditional studio apparatus that might have teamed
with Plan B to ensure “War Machine” was released in tip-top shape was
replaced by a company relatively inexperienced in the delicate art of
shepherding films.
Forgive Netflix if it underestimated what it takes to tackle the film
business; the Midas-like luck the company encountered in TV might have
deluded them into thinking that whatever they released would be
embraced. But ever since 2015, when Netflix made a bid for Oscar glory
with “Beasts of No Nation” only to fall short of the mark, the buzz that
came so easily from TV just isn’t sticking. If anything, the mark made
has come on the lower end of the cultural spectrum, where a multi-film
pact with Adam Sandler hasn’t exactly taken Hollywood’s former clown
prince to a new level in his own career.
Even in 2017, when Netflix began accelerating the volume of film
releases, nothing is really sticking. In the company’s most recent
letter to investors released with its quarterly earnings, in which it
typically crows about its best work, Netflix went so far as to actually
take the unusual move of singling out a failure: “Crouching Tiger Hidden
Dragon: Sword of Destiny.”
It was another odd bit of spin for Netflix, but with a purpose:
Acknowledging fallibility is a statement to the market that the company
knows it needs to do better. That’s why film veteran Scott Stuber was
recently hired, presumably not to just keep the company on the same
course that isn’t serving itself too well.
With a true pro in place, there may be hope yet for Netflix original
films. It’s unfortunate “War Machine” underwhelmed because like “Big
Short” it has important things to say about the dysfunctional
military-industrial complex. Critics’ assessments of the movie are all
over the map; my own is that what’s most unfortunate about the film is
that the first 10 minutes are its worst, an exposition-heavy mess that
may have prompted many Netflix users to bail out early before they got
the chance to see what is actually quite good once it settles into a
rhythm after its punishing start. A performance by Pitt that can seem
hammy and over the top at first starts to take on some nuance by the end
that reminds you how good an actor he is.

“War Machine” could have been a big movie not just for Netflix but
for the world at large, and it’s a shame that it isn’t. Let’s hope the
streaming service can do better than the military in Afghanistan, and
figure out how to turn this thing around.